Connot get it to accept cookies; privacy settings are re-set each time after I change them. How can I get the privacy setting to stick and accept cookies?

Question

I need to accept cookies to log into a technical site. I clear all cookies and the history and follow the instructions for setting privacy options to "Use custom settings for history" and to accept all cookies. When I go back to try logging into the site, it still tells me cookies aren't accepted. When I go back to Options-Privacy, the setting has been changed back to "Remember history" from "Use custom settings for history". I have done this about 5 times, trying various options, closing Firefox after making the change and starting it again - nothing works. How can I get the privacy settings to stay as I set them and accept cookies?

Answer 1

Blocking all cookies in Safari does not work. Deleted cookies will not stay deleted. There are numerous threads on this going back years, both in these forums and elsewhere. Many claim to have submitted the issue to Apple, but I have never seen anyone post a reply.
I have seen many suggested fixes that involve finding the cookies file, some including Terminal manipulations, and none seems to work universally. I can find noplace where Apple addresses this officially with an actual Apple-approved explanation or how-to.
Bottom line, your browser's security features should do what they claim: delete cookies. When they come back without ever even visiting another page, this is clearly not working in the way a reasonable user would expect.
Bottom line, Safari does not protect users' privacy in the way it pretends to and, after so many years of this issue, it appears that Apple wants it this way.
Having spent way too much time on this, I realize the choice is between Safari which is pretty well optimized; Firefox which is a lot pokier, at least for me; and Chrome, which I assume funnels personal information directly to Google.